@sinfony totally cool with what you said. Of course you’re entitled to enjoy the type of game you like most.

Pete pointed me towards an article quoting the doofus that designed Dyad (which was overrated) where he basically goes on record saying that telling stories in video games is mathematically impossible. That guys a goofball, and it seems like this argument crops up every couple of months. I still think it’s rooted in the archaic notion that every gamer needs to play every game, thus every game needs to be all things to all gamers. Horseshit, I say.

Blah. This is the new ‘are games art’ debate.

The medium is mature enough that different creators will be trying different things. To broadly say that no videogame can tell a story, or that all videogame stories are crap is insulting to the creators and the audience.

Diffrn’t strokes to move the world.

Five bucks? Sure, why not?

Pete, I know you do your pc gaming in the living room. What’s your solution for mouse & keyboard games?

@angryjedi I can certainly see a few use-cases for such a product as the Wii mini, but so much about it is…odd. The timing, the price, etc.

As for the complaints about the Wii U “not being powerful enough”, meh. Now that it’s at least in HD, as long as the games are good, I couldn’t care less. I could also care less about ports, I have a 360 and a PS3 for all that.

That said, I still think the Wii U is a misguided machine, only because I don’t think there’s enough development infrastructure to provide unique, compelling experiences beyond what Nintendo can produce.

THAT said, if Nintendo is able to produce 3 or 4 really badass Nintendo experiences, I’d probably break down and buy one. Certainly not yet.

Ok, it gets even weirder: it’s exclusive to Canada. Thoughts, Canadians?

It’s another head-scratcher in another long line of Nintendo head-scratchers. Someone should clue them in to this “internet” thing. It’s probably going to take off.

So…Nintendo has announced a $99 Wii Mini that has no internet connectivity. Wow.

I loved might ànd magic, bards tale, lands of lore…all that stuff. Maybe I’ll plunk down $4.

Someone talk to me about this Legend Of Grimrock and whether it’s worth the $3.74 Steam is charging for it right now.

Speaking of, I liked a lot about Persona 3, but the grinding got to me. Should I chek out P4?

Seriously, Darksiders 2 is $16.99 and Walking Dead is $12.50. Are you kidding me? Go buy those now.

Steam sale: Go!

@angryjedi I wonder what about this particular industry brings so many people with similar issues together? Very curious. Great article, btw.

I would say that the entire internet has become prone to believe “tough and critical” equals “fair”. Problem is, everyone is trying to hard to be noticed, that tough and critical has degenerated into snarky and pissy.

Look at the phenomenon of these two restaurant reviews:

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/2012/03/north-dakota-review-olive-garden-restaurant-becomes-sensation-web-video

and…

The first was a “sensation” but mostly because it was people poking fun at an old lady that dared enjoy her time at an Olive Garden. The NY Times review of Guy Fieri’s new place has become equally popular, but it’s being treated generally as “wow, what an amazing piece of writing…that reviewer is awesome” based on the level of “creativity” (snark) in the piece.

It’s just the times we live in. I’m over it. I make my own mind up about shit.

@bowlisimo do you PS+ it? That Instant Game Collection is a great deal.

I’m curious: what’s the squad-take on the Wii U now that its out?

Glad to see everyone enjoying TWD, I finally broke down and just replayed episode 4 after my save game disaster a few weeks ago. Seems like everything is more or less in line, so now I’m excited about episode 5.

I’m trying to remember what I meant when I said I wanted all games to be TWD (sometimes I just say stuff), but I think I was referring to the relative lack of friction: ie. no backtracking, thermoses to collect, or impossible bosses. For the most part (a few ill-conceived action sequences aside) you’re always moving forward. Also, being able to have a complete experience in a single sitting is mad appealing these days.

Of course, I’m now at the other extreme, having put 15 hours into Assassins Creed 3, only to have my save game mocking me with a big ol’ 39%. Oy.

One last thing: now that SWTOR is free, anyone going to give it a look? Or a re-look? Just curious, I let my subscription lapse, but I still would like to see how my character’s story ends.

Kickstarter you say?

I’m in for:

Double Fine
Republique
Project Eternity

That’s it…I think.

@bowlisimo I had the exact same experience with RE4 when it was originally released. I think I started that game like 5 separate times. As the kids say…it gets better.

I’m definitely feeling Kickstarter fatigue, especially when I noticed the “Planned April 2014” release date for Project Eternity. I’ve got money out on…3, 4 things? I think? Can’t even remember.

Not so bold prediction: with all of this money in the hands of developers, at least one of these $1M+ funded projects will completely implode, many hands will be wrung, clothes will be rent, lawsuits will be threatened, and Kickstarter will remind everyone to read their fine print, but pay attention this time.

@angryjedi Very cool. What’s the cast?

Also, don’t know if everyone here is a regular listener of Too Old For This, but Chris & I spend quite a bit of time debating the Wii U this week, so it may be worth a listen for this crowd.

@angryjedi some of these are jokes.

Darksiders 2 is a love letter to videogames, even more so than the first. Highly enjoyable.

As you were.

@angryjedi I would pick up The Last Story, except I don’t have any standard definition televisions hooked up to children’s toys in my house, so…no go.

So, what if you took Darksiders concoction of God Of War and Zelda and added Prince Of Persia traversal and Diablo loot?

Well, you’d have Darksiders 2, and that’s just the first 30 minutes or so.

@beige I’m thinking Deadlight can’t be all that memorable if the name is that easy to escape you.

No, DS2 will be awesome. Otherwise I’m not playing a game until Christmas.

@shingro I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed both episodes of TWD already. Excellent stuff.

I’ve tried to play through Witcher 2 so many times that at this point I may have to just admit defeat.

So, PA3 it is…

You know what sucks? Nobody except BioWare makes BioWare games anymore.

What I mean is, I’m in the mood for a quest, preferably with a party of characters (I posted on Facebook a request for books in the genre, in fact), and other than Dragon Age & Mass Effect, there really isn’t a lot of choices in today’s landscape, with the possible exception of some of the JRPG’s floating around, and well…let’s not go down that road again.

Penny Arcade 3 is sort of hitting the spot at the moment, but at the end of the day it’s more retro-curiousity than “game I’m playing at the moment” if that makes any sense.

Thinks?

Thankfully, I don’t want any of those games. Money saved.

Anyone checked out Yesterday (iOS) yet? It’s a new adventure game from the folks that made Runaway. Looks right up @bluesforbuddha‘s alley.

Ummm…have you guys seen the ridonkulous amount of free stuff for PS+ members this month? You’d be dumb not to sign up.

@mattcaulder I think letdown depends on your expectations. Other than new hardware or completely out of left field games, E3 isn’t going to do much to excite anyone that follows the industry the other 51 weeks of the year.

That said, this year’s E3 had both of those things. On that front, it seems the out of left field (watch dogs, beyond, to a lesser extent south park) have people pretty jazzed, while the ‘new’ hardware (Wii U) is leaving most people cold.

Overall? I got what I expected: a rundown of most of the games on my radar for the next 12 or so months, and a confirmation that Nintendo is perfectly happy without my money since 2008 and will continue to be so.

Also, welcome!

Tried to play YDNJ on Facebook. It locked up while loading the first question. Moving on.

I approve with all the approval I have of the changes to the site. It’s kind of amazing what WordPress themes let you do.

Any thoughts of adding anything for E3 related zaniness this year?

Looking at my Amazon wish list (which is where I put the games I’m interested in now, rather than actually pre-ordering anything), after Max Payne today, there is nothing I’m interested in until August, when Darksiders 2 (possibly) ships.

What does this mean? It means I’ll definitely be playing Diablo 3, and it also means I may actually start Skyrim.

Good ol’ fashioned summer lull for 2012? Who knew?

@angryjedi on a related note, can you believe the first Squadcast was FOUR YEARS AGO? How insane is that?

@angryjedi I don’t think it’s an unfair comparison, but at the same time at no point while playing it did I think, “hey, this is just like Heavy Rain.”

For my money, it’s far less gimmicky and far better voice acted.

The easy knock is that there are many parts of the game that are barely interactive. That will please some and bother others, but it’s in the service of story and character so I’m ok with it.

Hey, what’s that new dealy up at the top there? I like it.

Thanks for the support on the new show Chris and I are producing, we both really appreciate it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do. We’d love to know what you think.

Also, The Walking Dead game is sweet, and I’m currently playing Jak & Daxter HD and digging it.

I think F2P sounds like a fine idea for a Squadcast.

Diablo 3: good stuff, but I can’t help feeling I should wait for the inevitable console version.

@bluesforbuddha I don’t know if I’d go that far with Fez, but I did feel like it sort of misrepresented itself. I played the demo based on all of the positive buzz, and I liked what I saw: a 2D platformer with a “twist” (pun intended), so I bought the full game.

After playing the game for what really didn’t seem like a very long time, I now see what you guys have all mentioned below. The problem is that I don’t want to play Super Riven 3D World. I fucking hated Myst, and as a rule I don’t enjoy wandering around trying to make sense out of stuff, Earthworld (look it up, kids) style.

Hence, 8.5%. Should I have done my research? Probably. Shame on me, I guess.

…in which all some of your questions are answered…

Where you been, jackass?

I’ve been here. Reading all your stuff. Just wasn’t of a mind to post for a while there.

Why not, jackass?

Didn’t have anything to say?

Fair enough.

That’s not a question.

You’re not a question.

We could do this all day.

Your mom’s not…never mind. Whatcha been playin’?

Let’s see. I finished Mass Effect 3, but I have zero desire to turn that log over again. I played through Raam’s Shadow for Gears 3 and it was a pretty excellent piece of DLC. That’s really about it.

Why you not playing so many games? I saw a bunch of stuff crossed out on your Feenwager Challenge list. What’s up with that?

Easy. Easy. I crossed off a bunch of stuff because I finally decided to stop being polite and start getting real. (yeah, I said it.) Truth is, I’m simply not going to play 99% of the stuff on that list. There’s a very good reason it’s been sitting in my unplayed Pile, and that’s because deep down I don’t really care enough to play it. So, I traded it all in.

All of it?

Yep. All of it. I kept about six games, and the rest I sent to Amazon for a big ol’ credit. I’ll use it to buy the next few games I decide to purchase.

So what’s the moral of the story, jackass?

Moral of the story is I enjoy games more when I’m not part of the rat race. I don’t need to check 32 RSS feeds for all of the latest news and opinions, most of which only serve to make me sad in the end. I will always love gaming. Hell, it’s been a hobby of mine for over 30 years (sigh). I think I just like playing them, on my own terms, more than I like living them.

See ya around, then?

No, nothing like that. More to come…

I’m done with it. All of it. Good day.

Fuck.

@redswir1 glad you dug it. It’s funny, but until we started talking about it, I had never really given any thought to the cost of producing HD assets as a big issue for the genre.

I wish I had the time and inclination to play more of the quality stuff that showed up on the DS and PSP, but there just isn’t enough of either to go around.

I totally agree about the nested comments thing. Maddening. Good work.

Man, this display is awesome.

Of all the things the BG team could have announced, I think this was the least interesting to me.

@angryjedi Congratulations, you’ve broken the Challenge. Nice haul, but sheeeesh!